Pakistan cruise to number three in Test rankings

England has slipped one place to fourth in the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings following its five wickets defeat in the Barbados Test, which has helped the West Indies to level the three-Test series at one-all.

England had entered the three-Test series in third place on 104 points, while West Indies had started off on eighth spot on 76 points.

But following Sunday’s result, Alastair Cook’s men have dropped behind Pakistan on fourth position, while West Indies, after gaining three points, has reduced gap with seventh-placed India to 14 points.

Pakistan, which faces Bangladesh in the second and final Test in Mirpur on Wednesday, must win to retain its latest Test ranking.

Should Pakistan succeed in doing so, Misbah-ul-Haq’s side will fall to 102 points but will be ranked above England when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

Conversely, a Bangladesh win would see Pakistan drop behind England (102) and New Zealand (99) in fifth position on 96 points, while if the Test is drawn, then Pakistan will join New Zealand on 99 points but will be ranked above the Black Caps by a fraction of a point.

Meanwhile, the annual Test team rankings update like last week’s ODI and T20I tables will be carried out after the Mirpur Test.

Jermaine Blackwood is the biggest mover in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen following scores of 85 and 47 not out which have helped him leap 31 places to a career-high 37th spot to date.

Blackwood enjoyed a match-winning 108-run fifth wicket partnership with Darren Bravo whose second innings contribution of 82 has put him up three places to 29th.

Cook’s first innings score of 105 has promoted the England captain five places to 22nd, although there were declines for the likes of Joe Root (down two places to seventh), Gary Ballance (down two places to 19th), Ian Bell (down nine places to 30th) and Jonathan Trott (down six places to 47th).

In the bowling rankings, there were significant gains for three West Indies bowlers.

Jerome Taylor has moved up 13 places to 36th after claiming match figures of six for 69, Shannon Gabriel’s match tally of three for 63 has vaulted him seven places to 50th position but the biggest mover is Jason Holder whose five for 49 in the match has launched him 30 places to a career-high 51st position.

Bangladesh v Pakistan
Double-centurions from the Khulna Test between Bangladesh and Pakistan have made upward movements in the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, which were released today.

Tamim Iqbal, who scored a Test best 206 and won the player of the match award, has gained eight places to join Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed in 26th place (up by three places), while Mohammad Hafeez’s highest Test score of 224 has propelled him eight places to a career-high 34th to date.

Pakistan’s middle-order batsman Asad Shafiq has broken into the top 20 for the first time in his career after rising three places to 18th following his score of 82.

Bangladesh opener Imrul Kayes is also on a charge, having rocketed 24 places to a career-best 67th to date after scores of 51 and 150, while Mominul Haque has also moved up two places to a career-high 23rd position following scores of 80 and 21.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam has moved to a career high 31st after claiming match figures of 6 for 163 although his team-mate Shakib Al Hasan has dropped two places to 15th.